The present invention is directed to an attachment member for securing plates, in particular insulating material slabs, of considerable thickness to a receiving material, such as structural members, by means of a axially elongated cylindrical shank having a tip at its leading end and a flange like head projecting laterally outwardly from the shank at its trailing end. A contact pressure element for securing the plate or slab is displaceable relative to the trailing end of the shank and an axially extending deformable zone located around the shank for dissipating excess energy used in driving the attachment member into the receiving material.
An attachment member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,983 having a large area head and a hollow shank with a deformable zone or region along with an abutment for a nail guided in the hollow shank for securing plates, panels or slabs, in particular, plates or slabs of insulating material having a low compression strength. The attachment member is matched to the thickness of the panel of slab of insulating material which has to be secured. The hollow shank is formed of plastics material and has a relatively large diameter along its entire length and, accordingly, it is not easily insertable into all panel materials. In particular, where the panel or slab has a considerable thickness, it can be difficult to insert the attachment member for a sufficient depth so that its leading end contacts the receiving material or structural member. In such cases, it may be necessary to provide the panel with a bore having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the hollow shaft. The attachment member is inserted into the bore and subsequently nailed to the structural member. This procedure is very time consuming and requires additional tooling for forming the bore.
For securing panels of great thickness, that is, a thickness of 100 mm to 300 mm and more, to structural members, the attachment members are usually provided with nails of great length. The shanks of such nails are relatively thin having a diameter of only approximately 4.5 mm. In the previously described known attachment members, the nails are guided through a central bore in the hollow shaft. When driving the nails into the receiving material, it is possible that the nail shank may buckle when it is driven into hard receiving material or structural members. As a result, the panel or slab may not be adequately fastened to the structural member. To eliminate this problem, additional attachment points have to be provided. The attachment member can tilt into a undesirable position if the nail buckles. In such a situation, the nail has to be removed which is not an easy operation and can lead to damage to the panel or slab.